DEPARTMENTlinks

County Counsel

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Board and the public rely on and trust the legal advice provided by the Office of County Counsel and expect a high degree of professional competence and integrity. Quality legal services include an expectation that operative rules and regulations are applied correctly and carefully within the context of the legal and ethical demands on a public lawyer.

Consistent with this context and these expectations the Napa County Counsel’s Office has established the following goals and objectives:

1. Assist the Board of Supervisors and appropriate County staff to identify feasible options that will implement and achieve the goals, policies, and objectives of the Board of Supervisors.

2. Interpret the law in a fair, reasonable, and objective manner which recognizes legal problems or restrictions but which helps the Board identify feasible options that will enable it to attain its policy goals to the maximum extent possible.

3. Provide consistently successful representation in litigation involving the County and its various agencies.The unspoken assumption of this goal is that the office will litigate matters in a manner that is in the best interest of the Board while always being mindful of the fact that litigation inevitably involves significant expenditures of public funds.

4. Practice the highest ethical standards of the legal profession.

5. Attend meetings of the Board of Supervisors and other legislative or advisory boards and commissions to the maximum extent possible and meet with County officials to provide legal advice on proposed programs, policies, and activities when requested.

6. Prepare or review all resolutions, ordinances, and agreements for consideration by the Board of Supervisors and applicable boards and commissions of the County.

7. Respect the public trust by being courteous to the public and mindful that government does business for the public, while never forgetting that our client is the County and the Board of Supervisors and not the general public.

8. Continue to improve the timeliness of responses to client inquiries and requests for services.